Jesse Frank
Oud Lover
Posts: 23
Registered: 9-17-2007
Location: North Florida
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Mood: No Mood
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lute conversion
Hi All,
I've been looking into getting an oud, and some things have come up that have put a new one on the back burner. But, I have this old lute that my
grandpa and I made from a kit when I was a kid. It really doesn't play well, and the sound leaves something to be desired, but I thought I might be
able to fix some of that, hopefully with the help of some of you guys
Here are some shot of it:
The neck is starting to pull off of the back, so I need to do something about that, anyway. I was thinking about pulling off the soundboard, changing
the bracing if necessary, and just go ahead and making a new neck. I've got some purpleheart that I was thinking of using for the fingerboard,
hopefully that will work well. As for the other woods in the neck, I have access to some really nice scraps from a moulding shop that I may laminate
together..... well see about that.
Anyhow, it would be really nice to make this thing into something playable, it's got a lot of sentimental value
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Jesse Frank
Oud Lover
Posts: 23
Registered: 9-17-2007
Location: North Florida
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Well, I got the top off....
Wow, all those braces seem a LITTLE excessive.... no wonder it was so quiet! I had forgotten how many there were. I think I was 15 when we put this
together.
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Dr. Oud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1370
Registered: 12-18-2002
Location: Sacramento, CA, USA
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Mood: better than before
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I would put it back together and keep it for it's sentimental value. there's not much oud in your lute, and a lot of work to convert it. I think you
would be better off starting one from scratch or buy a broken ebay one and fix it up. You could rrmove all the braces except the crossbraces aboe and
below the sound hole and maybe 2 of the fan braces, then plane them doewn to about 1/4-3/8 in high to open up the lute's sound.
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Jesse Frank
Oud Lover
Posts: 23
Registered: 9-17-2007
Location: North Florida
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Thanks for the advice.
I know, this isn't going to be a very authentic oud, but if I can at least get the scale right, then I'll have something to play untiI can get a real
one. The intonation on this is pretty lousy, and I really prefer not to have frets, so I think I'll at least put a new fingerboard on it, if nothing
else.
I did do some work on the braces a few minutes ago. I took off quite a bit, but with what you mentioned, I think I'll take off a lot more. Thanks!
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jdowning
Oud Junkie
Posts: 3485
Registered: 8-2-2006
Location: Ontario, Canada
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There is nothing about the instrument that identifies it as a lute either!
If it has sentimental value I would agree with Richard and build a real oud from scratch keeping your "lute" as it is. Having built one instrument,
you may already have sufficient skills to succeed in making a basic oud and, no doubt, will get lots of support and encouragement from members of this
forum should you run into any difficulties. So go for it - the results will be much more satisfying I am sure.
Good luck
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Jesse Frank
Oud Lover
Posts: 23
Registered: 9-17-2007
Location: North Florida
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Yeah, it's kind of a generic stringed instrument. The thing is, all the work I'm doing to it now is necessary anyway, so that it doesn't self
destruct. The neck was coming up off the block, and it would have destroyed the soundboard. It was essentially unplayable. I'm just going to tune the
bracing, bolt the neck on and replace the fingerboard. Anyway, sorry if this is off topic for the forum.
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